The Return
by FanofSvu
Summary: Ziva has been gone for two years now but that doesn't mean she hasn't stopped talking to Gibbs and the others. She's in real hot water now. And, no one can figure out what it is. Can they before it's too late? NCIS Copyright: I dont own these characters. I just play with them.
1. Chapter 1

Leroy Jethro Gibbs looked up from his chair to find his agents' seats empty and only then did he realize what time it was. It was always the boss that stayed the latest in the work place it seemed.

Their job wasn't ordinary though, not everyone had the privilege of solving crimes, and even saving lives. It was also a very dangerous job, it was only natural for the team to grow close wasn't it?

But, it had become more than that for him. He never thought he'd feel this complete again since his first wife and child died. It was a given that he still missed them very much, and time had done it's healing.

Every now and then the pain he felt was opened raw, but he had always managed.

It wasn't until now that he realized what he had, and hadn't even seen it coming until now. Truthfully, it had been a gradual thing. The first time he noticed it was when Dinozzo had come down with the pneumonic plague.

It had crossed his mind during that time period that Dinozzo might just die, and only then had he started to realize what his team was starting to mean to him. It had been even more of a blow when Kate passed away.

He had done so well on covering up his feelings, besides the anger that was. It had almost felt like losing another child of his. Of course, back then he had no where to place the emotions, only to him being irrational.

Then came the time where Abby was being stalked by a crazy ex-boyfriend, that had scared him shitless. The mere thought of Abby being hurt had driven him into a protective state of mind.

Then he left. Gone just like that. He had come back, but nothing screamed a failure like that.

Then Jenny was killed.

That had been devastating in it's own right, another woman that he loved murdered. They hadn't been together, but it had still hurt. And, to make things worse, his team had been split up by the new director.

The team was eventually put back together, but it had taken it's toll on the group. He hadn't looked at it as family back then.

He had left Ziva in Tel aviv after the whole Rivkin ordeal, and she had ended up being tortured. He had thought her death after hearing about Somalia, but somehow she had managed to survive when they had rescued her, but coming in to get justice at the time. Nevertheless, they were happy for her survival.

Yet, it was not until then that he realized what his team had become. They were a family. Dinozzo the immature oldest son, the one that caused the most trouble. Mcgee was the more mature younger son, willing to please. Ziva was the protective daughter, strong and could take care of her, but unwilling to admit when she needed help. And, Abby was the delightful younger daughter that got away with everything.

Then he got arrested for the whole incident with Jarvis, and Ziva ended up leaving.

Things were not the same after that.

Then Ellie Bishop came along, and she had eventually found her way into the weird but loving family. Then everything got thrown into the air when he was shot, and had nearly died.

They were his kids, it had taken almost being killed to see that. One kid was missing, far away in Tel aviv. They texted every now and then, Ziva had already looked to him as a father figure.

He wanted her back though.

Life was crazy without her, it just wasn't the same without the family being in tact.

He finally stood up, shutting his computer down so it could hibernate. It was midnight and about time that he went home. He was startled though by the sound of his phone ringing. He flipped it open to see that it was coming from Ziva.

Why would she be calling in the middle of the night? He had no idea what time it was there, but he was sure that Ziva knew how late it was here. "Gibbs," was what he heard soon as he answered the phone.

Her tone seemed panic and that quickly caused him to tense. "Hey Ziva, what is it? Is everything okay?" He waited for a response but there was none, and something told him that nothing was okay.

He heard a crashing sound coming from the phone, like a fight was happening or something. There was nothing he could do. His stomach churned with unease. "Ziva!" He called out, hoping for a response. There was none.

He waited a few moments longer, there was still nothing. What the hell just happened? He needed to do something, but what? He couldn't help her being this far away. He finally ended the call, thinking the worse. Had she just been killed? Had she been kidnapped?

His phone started to ring again, it was Ziva again. He was confused, hadn't she just been attacked? "Gibbs! I was wondering if I could come stay with you... just for a few weeks." He was happy to hear her voice, but that was not explaining what had just happened.

"What the hell just happened?"

There was a long pause after that, but Ziva finally answered. "Nothing that I couldn't handle, okay? Is that a yes or no?" He sighed, deciding it would be best that they talked in person, than over the phone where she could just hang up. "Sure, Zivers. My home is always open to you."

"Thanks Gibbs, I'll be arriving Tuesday or Wednesday. Or Soon as I can get there, thanks. Bye." She seemed to be in a hurry to say goodbye, so she wouldn't have to stop and explain herself.

He guessed that he would just have to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a long time since she had been in the states, and she felt bad for being gone for so long. She had thought it best for her to keep her Ncis family safe. But, she had no choice at the moment but to go back. Life in Tel aviv had turned from peaceful to dangerous rather quickly. And, it did not matter that she was a highly trained ex-mossad officer.

She, Ziva David, was on the run.

She wasn't sure what reasons she had to continue fighting, but she continued to struggle. She felt a pull that said she had to keep going, but it didn't occur to her who it would benefit. She was nothing now, a girl trying to refind herself. That had been a waste. Sitting still and being idle had never been her. She had to stick her nose into something, and look where it landed her?

In a deep pit of trouble.

Sometimes things were just best left alone, but sometimes they weren't. She had been no fool, she had sensed the utter nastiness of the crime being committed. She had witnessed a woman being kidnapped from her home, who was she to not try and stop it? She had failed. But, Ziva at the time was determined to save the woman.

That had required quite a lot of stealth, undercover work even. Just so she could get into the kidnapper's lair. And, what she found was that the whole operation was bigger than it seemed. She had walked onto something big.

Some kind of disaster, a terrorist plot of some kind. It was too bad that she had been found out before she could uncover anything else. She didn't have a team to help her this time. She was in real danger now, and no one would know what had ever happened.

She had been desperate to find a way out, and to avoid the states so she wouldn't have to face anyone she knew. She had to keep everyone that she loved safe. But, at some point there was time when one broke. She had telephoned Gibbs asking for a place to stay, almost getting killed in the process.

She was determined though, she would reveal nothing to silver-haired man. It was her absolute wish to keep him safe. The plot she had tapped into was bigger than she had ever seen. Even she was scared out of her mind, fearing the destruction that it would bring. And, if Gibbs found out.. He'd get involved. And, she just could not let that happen. She didn't want their help, not if it meant them being in the line of fire too.

Her thoughts about it went to the extremes as she got closer and closer to Gibbs house. She worried that he would find out somehow, that it would be inevitable that he got involved. She had been attacked over the phone. He knew something was up.

But, it wasn't something she could tell him. And, that wasn't an answer he would want, and he would keep poking and prodding until he found out. Why should he care? She could handle herself. She had brought down the man who had attacked her easily. But, she knew better. He'd care because he loved her, in a strictly fatherly matter.

He was all she had left after her biological father had died.

She was not going to lose another.

Not to mention, Tony.

Her stomach churned with nerves when Gibbs house finally came into view, wondering how he would react to her presence. She smiled nervously at the cab driver and paid him his money. She dragged her to the front door, wondering if he was even home. She had told him though that she her plane had arrived. He would be home waiting for her.

She rung the door bell, and relaxed her shoulders and stood in place. The sound of footsteps within the house could be heard, and Ziva then find a small twinge of excitement. She had not seen the man for two years now.

The door finally opened, revealing the silver-haired man that had once been her boss, and was and is a father figure to her. "Gibbs!" She finally managed to cry out with excitement, pulling him into a hug. It had been an unplanned hug, something she did not do often. She was usually so controlled.

He ushered her into the house, a look of concern on his face. It was then that she remembered the black eye she had. She winced slightly, wondering what kind of lie she was going to have to come up with. It was for his own good, after all.

"Ziva, now might you explain?"

"I'm tired Gibbs, how about later?"

She expected him to protest, but he just led her to the guest bedroom, opening it so she could go unpack.

She knew that she would have to say something at some point, but she needed time to come up with a reasonable lie. Little did she know that Gibbs had done his research. After all, not everything would remain a secret. She would have to become even smarter about lying.

She reopened the bedroom door, deciding that she needed to get this over with whether she liked it or not.

"Gibbs."

He turned towards her, a questioning look in his eyes. "I lied, I'm not really all that tired. I just don't know what to say." He nodded his head before saying anything. "Just start with the beginning?" She winced, wishing she could have been prepared for that. "No, what I'm saying is... I can't say anything. I want to tell you. But, I can't. I already lost one father, not about to lose another." She choked on her words, before running back to her room, knowing she had already said far too much.

What the hell had she just done?


	3. Chapter 3

He hadn't know how to respond to her outburst, shocked by the words she had spilled. Hadn't even given him a chance to respond back, and he needed time to process it all. It had to be something serious for her not wanting him to get involved. But, they had handled plenty of shit back in the day.

Surely the situation couldn't be much worse? It was like a scream for help, but there was no words spoken. How could he help when she refused to say what it was? He wished she was a little bit more like Abby, more open about things.

Gibbs knew she would hold it all inside, because she thought she was protecting them. But, wasn't it their decision to make? Ziva seemed to be forgetting that, but he would allow it to slide for now. He would approach the subject tomorrow when she had a chance to recuperate from the long flight. He wanted to know what was going on immediately, but he knew that now was not the time.

That didn't mean he was completely against snooping, something that Dinozzo did constantly. And, in this case he figured he had pretty good reason to do so. His son was always full of surprises.

Soon as he heard the sound of water running, he ventured towards the guest bedroom. He hoped to find something useful in there, something that would give him any inkling of the issue at hand. He just hoped that the shower would take awhile. Although, he wasn't too worried about being caught.

The first thing that caught his attention when he entered the room was the laptop laying down on the bed. It was probably password protected, and he certainly wasn't good with computers. He was willing to brave it though for Ziva's sake. While she thought keeping them out of the loop was for the best, Gibbs found it to be disconcerting.

After all, wasn't five pairs of eyes better than one pair? He didn't know what it was, but he was determined that the team could protect her.

Quiet as a mouse, he slinked over to the bed and opened up the lap top. Just as he expected the damn thing was password protected. He kept his ears on high alert for the water to shut off. He figured he only had a few minutes before he'd have to scurry on out of there. He tried a few passwords, none of them worked.

He would have to talk to Mcgee, not that he was entirely sure he wanted to bring the man into it. He didn't see any other options, thinking there had to be a way to access her computer. The sound of the water coming to a halt caused him to stand back up, off of the bed and get out of the room before she noticed.

He slowly shut the door behind him and headed for his own room that was just across the hall. The problem would have to wait until tomorrow, and maybe Mcgee would have the answers. Especially if Mcgee knew it was about Ziva.

If that didn't work, then he'd have to keep pestering her about it. And, he really didn't want to do that. She seemed to be very worked up over whatever the hell was going on, and probably wasn't healthy for her to be holding it all in. He felt bad for thinking of bothering her about it even more.

But, how else was he supposed to protect her?

He shook his head, knowing that he would find out one way or the other. But, his last resort would be to force the subject upon her, it seemed hard for her to even talk about it. He would have to go down the computer route, and hope there was something about it in her files, or possibly even the internet.

He'd also look at things going on Tel aviv, but things had seemed to be finally settling down there? Or was things just starting back up again, and Ziva had somehow managed to get involved.

He decided that he would take a break from all this contemplating and make some dinner for the both of them, he was thinking steak and potatoes. If he remembered correctly, Ziva had liked his steak the last time he made it. That had been a long time ago now, hard to believe it had been that long already.

He stepped out into the hallway, coming to the final decision on what he'd make for the two of them. He ran straight into Ziva who was on the way to her room, and he meant literally. "Sorry Zivers, didn't see you there."

After that awkward exchange, Ziva just smiled and nodded her head. She was unusually silent, and he was the king of being silent. He supposed that spill of words she had earlier had something to do with it. Of course, there was nothing he could do to make that better. She thought if she got him involved that she'd end up getting him killed.

But, Gibbs had already almost died. It had awoken him up to the fact that he had family, and he wasn't about to forget his fatherly duties. Didn't she see that it was his duty to protect her? Not the other way around. Obviously not, or he would have already known the problem. "I must apologize about my earlier outburst, it's not something you need to worry about. I'm sorry that I made it seem that way."

Those were her words, but he wasn't buying it for one second.

"Right. I don't believe you."

His words may have seemed harsh, but they were words of mere concern and worry. He didn't know what was going on inside that brain of hers, but he was surely determined to find out. "It's nothing for you to concern yourself with, trust me." He glared at her right then, tired of this charade of denying that there was a problem.

"Like hell it isn't," He then proceeded to storm past her, brushing her shoulder on the way. He then went on and made dinner for the both of them, a beautiful steak dinner, but none of them were in a very good mood.


	4. Chapter 4

Just keep smiling.

That was how Anthony Dinozzo jr. made it through the day, and hardly anyone ever noticed if he was in a bad mood or not. Nope, his average overdone it charm and jokes made his life look like one of a immature jokester.

But, to be straight to the point. His life wasn't entirely roses, and most certainly had it's ups and downs. He had a father that lived nearby. A beautiful girlfriend named Zoe. And, not to mention he practically had two fathers? Of course, he'd never share that detail with his boss. There was no telling what Gibbs would say or do at that idea.

That was just looking at his life from an angle though. There was most definitely some flaws to it. Like the constant fights between him and Zoe lately. He missed the honeymoon stage of their relationship, and she wasn't Ziva. He hated to admit that, but the israeli woman still topped number one in his head.

It was a downright shame though that he couldn't get over it, Ziva was not coming back, not ever. But, he still missed her all these years later.

Bloody hell. That's what it was.

He had made himself vulnerable to the woman but she still decided to stay in Tel aviv, he should be angry for making himself feel like that. It only led to a man being hurt, but he still kept on giving. He might not like to admit it, but he was a good guy. He wanted to right the world the best he could, prevent all the bad from happening as much as possible.

Even all the bad men the team found did nothing really, as there was always another. But, just catching one was enough to make Dinozzo feel pretty good about himself. That was what motivated him to get up and go to work everyday. Besides, it was always fun messing with Mcgee. The man could be so gulliable at times that it was hilarious.

This morning seemed particularly different, almost like something bad was about to happen. Most of the team were sitting at their desks, but there was no sign of Gibbs. He wondered if he was in a meeting or something. The boss was never late. Dinozzo almost didn't know what to do with himself.

Thankfully there was no calls coming in. He was particularly thankful for that, not in the mood for a case to come floating in. It would be nice to just work on cold case files and finish reports. That's the kind of day it was, nothing too serious. Besides, a phone call usually meant that someone had died, and it was never good to wish ill will on anyone.

The sound of elevator door opening caught his attention, Gibbs soon coming into sight. He wanted to say something, he could hardly control himself, but by now he knew better than to do so. He didn't particularly feel like getting a head slap anytime soon. And, Gibbs wouldn't hesitate to smack him if he acted stupid.

What came next though left him in utter shock. He could hardly believe his eyes on what he was seeing, but he could swear the woman that came in following closely behind Gibbs was Ziva.

It took awhile for Dinozzo to find his words, and it could only be understanding, seeing that he hadn't seen the women in three years nearly. What was she doing here? She was the last face he expected to see. "Z-Ziva?" He finally managed to croak out her name and that was it.

"Yes Tony, it's me."

He kept opening and closing his mouth, mostly out of habit not really knowing what to think at the moment. She was supposed to be in Tel aviv finding herself again. At least that was the last he heard. Why didn't she tell him she was coming back?

"Why are you here?" The words were perhaps rude, but he didn't know what else to say. Was she here visiting? Did she want to come back? what the hell was going on? Wouldn't he like to know. He remembered why he had fallen in love with her, her beautiful face and hair, and the way they had tested each other. It wasn't her appearances though that had done him in, it had been her personality.

Gibbs finally cleared his throat, having enough of this reunion. The man had a whole other agenda, that he was about to spill onto Mcgee. "Mcgee. With me. Conference room." The younger agent quickly got to his feet and hurried to catch up with his boss, leaving Tony alone with Ziva besides for Bishop.

The blond haired agent quickly made her escape though, saying she needed to go see Abby about something. That just made things even more awkward, leaving the pair alone.

"I'm here visiting Tony, that is all."

He frowned, wishing that she had come back to stay. It was sinful of him to think this way when he was already in a committed relationship. But, who was he to be blind to love? Ziva had been in his life for a good solid eight or so years.

"I see, for any particular reason?" His eyebrows rose with a hopeful glance, wishing that it was to see him. But, that would be selfish of him wouldn't it? She would be here to see everyone. But, he kind of wanted her all to himself at the moment. He knew that was a sinful thought, and he definitely didn't want to hurt Zoe.

This was ridiculous. He shouldn't even be thinking about. Yet, here he was even contemplating it.

"Not really," was her answer and it only infuriated him more, knowing that she was lying. What could she be doing here? Was she in some kind of trouble he didn't know about? "You have a place to stay?" He hoped that he didn't seem too pushy, but he was curious. "Staying with Gibbs," was her response.


End file.
